How to Acquire the Skills You Need to Excel in Your Chosen Field

Those who excel in any given field have mastered specific skills that are inherent to that field. If you ever played any sport, you know this.

For example, in basketball, players must learn and become proficient at various shooting skills, dribbling skills, defensive skills, etc. However, in administrative work, the skills required are different: typing skills, communication skills, organizational skills, etc.

It’s no different in your chosen field: there is a set of skills you must master to excel.

Determine Which Skills You Need

Of course, the first step is to determine what those skills are so that you can focus on developing them. Determining which skills you need isn’t always easy to do; you’ve never been done that road before. Therefore, you may be flying blind.

An excellent way to find out is to model someone who is already at the level you aspire to be. What skill did they need to get there?

If you are fortunate to have access to one of these people in your life and ask them questions, take full advantage of it. Their experience can accelerate your journey.

Develop Your Skills

Once you know which skills you need to excel in your field, you must hone those skills. At the most basic level, this means that you must practice, practice, practice. You improve by practicing consistently, and little by little, step by step, you become proficient at those skills.

Practice is the key. However, all practice isn’t equal. You can’t practice anyhow and expect to get convincing results. Smashing at the piano for 1 hour a day doesn’t mean that your practice is effective and that you’re improving your piano skills. There must be a “method” to the “madness.”

That’s where undergoing training, coaching, and mentoring is extremely valuable. Leveraging the experience and expertise of those who have gone before you, works wonders when you want to develop your skills fast.

You may need to do a bit of research to find the training programs and mentors that work for you. But once you do, you must put in the effort and practice.

Deploy Your Skills

Skills are meant to be used. The reason you practice your scales at the piano is to be able to play piano pieces. The reason you practice shooting the ball through the hoop is so that you can go on the basketball court and play the game.

Practice isn’t an end in itself; it’s a means to an end. The reason you develop your skills is so you can deploy them: put them to use. Don’t wait to be perfect before you begin to put your skills to use.

Determine which skills you need to excel in your chosen field, develop them, and then deploy them.